Blazing Blizzard
by Eggplant Crusader
Summary: Yang Xiao Long was once a rising star in the VCPD, but the city has taken its toll on her. As if her life wasn't bad enough, her former 'its complicated' and Vale's favourite billionaire, Weiss Schnee, is back in town. Meanwhile, a masked hero patrols the streets of Vale...
1. Month One

A light breeze pushes a crumpled newspaper page into the flickering spotlight of the only working lamppost in sight. For a second, the wind and the light conspire to make a small article on a corner of the page visible. The title reads "New Vigilante Sighting".

The sound of a roaring engine fills the cold winter night, and a car makes a sharp turn into the street. An arm reaches out of one of its windows to place a small police siren on the roof of the vehicle.

As the car speeds past the lamp post, the newspaper is carried behind it, back into the dark night of Vale City.

A tall redhead woman drives in a state of complete focus, ignoring her partner, who's yawning loudly as she turns down the volume of the police scanner so she can listen to the radio.

"...yet another terrifying tale that shows the sad state of our city." comes a voice from the radio, high pitched and a bit too cheerful "and in some lighter news, Vale City's princess is back in town!"

"What?" The blonde partner says, and something in her voice, a barely hidden anger, manages to reach the driver, who starts listening.

"You heard that right folks, Weiss Schnee has returned home after seven long years of world travelling."

"What?!" The blonde says, no longer trying to conceal her anger.

"The young woman, now twenty four years old, left at the age of seventeen, seven years after the tragic death of her parents. Here's what she had to say:"

A new voice, quiet and melodic, starts talking.

"Vale has always been my home. The painful memories drew me away, but I always intended to come back. I left because I needed to heal, but the city needs healing too. I'm here to help with that. Besides...They say no one parties like Vale, and I'd like to test that theory!"

"What." The blonde says flatly as she turns off the radio. A second later, she pulls out a flask from inside her trenchcoat and starts drinking..

"Yang. What the hell is wrong with you?" The driver says, taking the flask.

"With me? With me?! What the hell is wrong with this city, is what you ought to ask! Everything's going to hell and what do they talk about? 'The princess of Vale City'! Ha!"

"Yang. We're almost at the scene, focus."

"You know, she's like, really short."

"Who?"

"Schnee!"

"We don't have time for this Yang" The driver says as she makes one last turn and stops the car. "Let's go!"

Yang stumbles out of the car, takes out a second flask and starts drinking. She hears the sound of her partner's footsteps behind her and hurries to hide the flask in her trenchcoat.

"Oh, for the love of…" Her partner says, her gun already out. "What is wrong with you? Hurry up!"

"Calm down, Pyrrha. Where's the fire?"

The redhead looks across the street at the scene. Then at Yang. Then back at the scene.

"Oh." Yang says quietly behind her.

"Only you. Only you can miss a meth lab burning to ashes in front of you." Pyrrha says angrily as she crosses the street. "Worst. Cop. Ever."

* * *

"Ok Yang, calm down, you've been in deeper shit than this" Yang says to herself as everything burns around her. "Granted, you were in better shape. And sober. But still, you can do this."

A huge wooden beam collapses right next to her.

"Of course, you could have stayed outside like a sane person, but noooo, 'my partner is in there', you said, 'partners don't let partners burn themselves to death' you said. Idiot."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" A voice says behind her. She turns around to see a scrawny man in ragged clothing pointing a gun at her.

"Hey, at least I wasn't stupid enough to let my meth lab burn to the ground."

"Wasn't me" says the man, his hands shaking. "It was that new boss. We wouldn't pay, so she blew it all up."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Listen, I don't have time for this. Have you seen my partner? Hot redhead, runs towards danger, big damn hero and all that? Last I checked she was rushing in here to save your sorry ass."

"I can't go to jail" The man says, not listening to her. "Won't last a second there. That's what they say, you cross her, you don't get to hide behind bars." The man starts coughing badly, and a stray shot flies past Yang's shoulder.

"Oy!" She says as she pulls out her gun. "Put that thing down!"

The smoke gets thicker. The man looks at her with bloodshot eyes.

"Can't go to jail." He says.

There's a loud metallic noise as something hits his gun and he drops it. A dark silhouette lunges forward from the flames and tackles him.

"Your partner's safe" The figure says in a whisper. Yang looks at her. Wearing a black ski mask, completely dressed in black, small, and clearly female. It can only be one person.

"You're her." Yang says, and gets no reply. "That vigilante chick that's been showing up on the news. I didn't think you were real."

"Well, I am" The vigilante says as she lifts the unconscious man, bigger than her, and starts carrying him. "Now get out of here, idiot."

"Hey!" Yang starts, but a loud sound behinds her interrupts her. "Oh. Right." She says, looking at the new burning hole in the floor. "Getting out of here." she says as she turns around. But there's no one there.

* * *

There are only a few minutes left before sunrise, but the cover of clouds keeps the sky dark as snow gathers on the grounds around Schnee Manor. The vigilante stumbles on the empty halls, her hand clutched to a light knife wound, a lucky hit from a criminal now tied up to a lamppost, waiting to be picked up by the police.

With slow steps, the vigilante finds her way to a study and lets herself fall on an armchair.

"Another long night, mother." She says as she removes her mask, revealing a beautiful yet scarred face "I don't think this is working."

There is no reply, only the silent look from the small stone bust with the name 'Martha Schnee' engraved beneath it.

"I thought...I don't know what I thought. That word would get around and things would change. Criminals would be scared, and people would feel safe. But nothing changes. Most still laugh when they first see me."

Silence.

"I saw Yang today. I think she was drunk. She didn't recognize me. It was…"

Silence.

"Fourteen years. Fourteen years preparing myself for this. But...something's missing. I just don't know what."

Suddenly, a strong wind forces the window open, carrying with it countless snowflakes. Some of them begin to pile against the side of the small bust. Blue eyes turn to the window and meet the raging storm outside. Then they find their way back to the snow covered bust. A small smile makes its way to the scarred face.

"Yes, mother…I shall become a storm."

* * *

 **A.N: Well...that was a thing. I'm so sorry, specially about that last line. But I regret nothing. The idea came to me last night and, after going through lots of variants, I decided to go with the first one (if you don't count the good cop Weiss/ bad cop Yang I was planning when BatWeiss came to mind)**

 **I see this as an AU set in a world behind ours in technology, maybe during the eighties or so, but perhaps with some sci-fi-ish elements, to make it more 'comic book'.**

 **I already know which roles a few other characters are going to play. You'll _never_ guess who Blake is!**

 **I'm already starting to regret the present tense, but that first scene with the newspaper wrote itself and I had to wing it from there.**

 **I feel kinda guilty about writing this when peploe are being so nice about my other fics and asking me to update, but I couldn't help myself. On the other hand, now I have a fic for each of my favorite ships! (Best Girl Weiss + another RWBY member)**

 **Oh, and I expect I'll upload a Change the World chapter this weekend. It's almost done, honest.**

 **EDIT: Fixed the weird thing that made this illegible.**


	2. Blizzard Begins

A man falls in a puddle of water mixed with dirty snow. His cries for help echo throughout the dark alley, but are soon buried by the laughter of three men standing around him. The metallic sound of a switchblade cuts through the air, killing all other sound but the the slow dripping of melting snow.

Two of the men see a white blur fall from above and disappear behind the third man.

"Wha? Why are you looking at me like that?" He asks as he sees the confused looks on their faces. He feels something piercing through his leg and falls to the ground, screaming in pain.

The other two take a step back in horror as they take in the ghostly figure before them.

"Wh-What the hell are you?" One of them manages to stutter. The voice that answers is filled with cold wrath.

"I am the storm that has come to clean this city. I am reckoning. I am Blizzard, and I'm your worst nightmare."

* * *

The blueish glow of a computer screen is the only source of light in the apartment. The sound of fast typing the only company to the voices of the radio.

"And in other news, it seems like Vale City's masked crusader has a new outfit!" A high pitched comes from the radio. The typing stops.

"Nora, we've talked about this, she's not real."

"Is too." Whispers a girl sitting in front of the computer.

"Is too!" Echoes Nora miles away at the radio station. "And now she's wearing white! The latest reports say she wears white with a long ice-blue coat with a snowflake on the back."

"A snowflake? Really?" Says the young man sitting next to her with a bored expression on his face.

"Yes Ren, really!"

"Nora, I know our audience is at an all time low but you can't just make stuff up."

"Ren! We're on air! Don't listen to him folks, we all know there's millions of you out there. Anyway, yes, a snowflake! And she is using a rapier!"

"A rapier."

"Yeah, you know, 'my name is Iñigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die', that kinda thing."

"So she's stabbing people now, eh? That's nice, she sounds like a very sane, balanced individual."

"Idiot." Mumbles the girl in the apartment as she starts to type again.

"Apparently she only leaves light wounds. I spoke to a paramedic earlier and he said it looked like she had gone out of her way to avoid any real danger."

"How considerate of her. So, let's assume for a minute that she's real..."

"'cause she is" Says the girl in the appartment.

"'cause she is!" Agrees Nora.

"And let's assume all these, ahem, 'reports' you're getting are accurate. Are you saying there's some madwoman with a ski mask and _a sword_ taking the law in her own hands? How is this good news?"

"First, it's a rapier, that's like, way cooler. Second, she doesn't wear a ski mask anymore! One of the thugs she caught said she was wearing some kind of cowl, he could see the lower half of her face. He said she had a pretty smile."

"He said that?"

"He might have been more...crass about it. And anyway, she's only going after criminals! A little girl even told me she helped her get her kitty from a tree."

"Truly, a paragon of justice."

The sound of a key turning at the door catches the girl's attention and she misses Nora's reply.

"Frak" She whispers as the door opens.

"Ruby?" Yang's voice comes from the door. "You in here?"

Yang enters the apartment and takes in the scene for a second.

"Ruby Rose! How many times have I told you not to use the computer in the dark like that?" She says as she turn on the light.

"I thought I had a couple of hours until you got home!" Ruby answers, covering her eyes.

"That's not a valid excuse!"

"NO. WAY." Nora's loud voice fills the apartment and the two girls turn to look at the radio. "This just in folks: she has a name!"

"Who has a name?" Asks Yang.

"Shhhhh!" Says Ruby, her eyes fixed on the radio, expectant.

"Reliable sources-" Nora beings.

"Some random thugs" Ren corrects.

"-have recently come forward with this new information!"

"Just say it!" Ruby says.

"And her name is...Blizzard!"

"Blizzard? Really?" Ren says.

"Ruby, why is Nora Valkyrie talking about some chick with a stripper name?"

"Blizzard…" Ruby says. "That...is...AWESOME!"

"Oh god" Yang says, covering her face with her hand. "Please tell this isn't about that vigilante chick."

"She's not a vigilante! She's a hero!"

"No, she's not."

"She saved Pyrrha!"

"Oh please. As if miss Pyrrfect Cop could have gone down so easily. She's just a nutjob desperate for attention, I give her a month or so until she gets bored. Or killed. What's with the face? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Hello." A voice comes from behind Yang, and she freezes. She turns around slowly and meets a pair of blue eyes. "You left the door open."

"Weiss." Yang says.

"Hello." Weiss repeats quietly. "I-"

"No." Yang interrupts her.

"What?"

"No. I don't know why you're here, but I don't care."

"Yang, I-"

"You think you can just pop back into my- into our lives like this? You were gone for _years_ Weiss! The only reason we even knew you were still alive was because of the pictures of you partying that hit the tabloids from time to time! I don't know what made you want to be...this." Yang says, the last word spoken in disgust as she gestures at the other girl. "But the Weiss I knew would never do something like that."

Yang brusquely pushes Weiss aside as she walks out the door.

"I'll be at the bar! Don't wait up!" Her voice comes from the hallway.

A few seconds pass in silence as the two remaining girls look at each other. Ruby sighs and nods towards the kitchen.

"Come on, I think we've still got some tea left." She says.

* * *

"I don't know what I expected." Weiss mutters as she watches the steam float away from her cup.

"Just...give her some time. You know how she is, she needs to get it out of her system. I'm not saying everything's gonna be sunshine and puppies, but she'll hear you out eventually."

"I just...I need her to know I'm not...you know...what she thinks I am."

"What, a spoiled brat that has given up on doing anything meaningful with her life and just settles for partying hard and wasting money?"

"...Yes."

"Well, for what is worth, _I_ don't think you are."

"I...You don't?"

"Nah. I remember how much you hated parties. People change, but they don't change _that_ much. But Yang has never been one for cold logic, specially when it comes to you. And all those hot chicks in the pictures with you sure didn't help. She'll figure it out eventually though."

"So...if you don't think that...what _do_ you think?"

"I think you are a very strange person that's had a very complicated life. I think finding out you were back in town through the news sucked, there's this things called phones, you know? You should look them up. Oh, and I think you missed _a lot_ of birthdays, if you know what I mean."

"I'm sorry."

"Eh. Water under the bridge." Ruby says, shrugging. "Hey, have you heard about the masked hero? Cool, huh?"

"...hero?"

"Yeah, this masked girl has been kicking ass all over town, putting criminals behind bars and all of that."

"And you think she's a hero." Weiss says flatly.

"W-well yeah! This city has being going to hell since...you know…" There's an awkward pause as both girls look silently at their drinks. _Since your parents were killed_ , the unspoken words float between them. "Yang thinks she's a nutjob though."

"Yes. I heard." Weiss says with a small a smile. "That's very...Yang of her. Good to know some things are still the same."

"Ha. Yeah."

* * *

It's a cold friday night in Vale City. Too cold for snow.

In a small bedroom, a girl sketches a bright red costume design.

Outside a bar, a cop helps her drunk partner stay straight up on their way home.

In dark alleys superstition spreads and criminals start looking behind their shoulders, afraid of the night that no longer belongs to them.

Above it all, the Blizzard watches over her city.

"You can't be serious." A female voice says in her ear. Across the street, inside a high class restaurant, a thug, unaware he's been bugged, has just explained to his boss his friends are in jail now because of 'a ghost'.

"All white, with flamin' blue eyes" says the man. "and the way it moved, that was no ordinary person."

"A ghost." The female voice repeats "Don't be ridiculous. It's just that madwoman from the news. What I'd like to know is how she managed to take down four of my men. And why she let go of the fifth one."

"I escaped boss. Ran like hell."

"She let you. Someone who can do what she did so easily wouldn't have had any trouble putting you down." There's a brief pause in the conversation "Check him."

There's sound of movement, and a few grunts of complaint from the thug. Then absolute silence. Finally, the female voice is heard again, louder and clearer, as if she's speaking right next to the microphone.

"Nice try, _ghost._ " It says. "But you'll need to try harder if you want to go against Cinder Fall. Now listen carefully, because this one's on you."

The sound of a gunshot comes both from the earpiece and from across the street, and a hand tightens around a cold rapier hilt.

* * *

 **A.N: Had to fight the urge to change her name to Cinder Fallcone. As in Carmine Falcone. Eh? Eh? Anyone? And yes, I know he's 'The ROMAN' Falcone, but Cinder makes more sense as a character, and I got big plans for my bud Roman. At least she has the same initials.**


	3. The Falling Joke

**Friday**

"Freeze!" Yang's voice echoes throughout the whole warehouse.

"Really Yang? did you _really_ just go there?" Pyrrha mutters besides her.

"What do you- Oh. I get it. Man, I'm doing it without even realizing it now, huh?"

"Idiot."

"Jerk."

A cough interrupts the banter and they both look back at the white figure standing before them, rapier in hand, blue lenses hiding the eyes under the cowl.

"Are we going to do this?" The voice comes as a whisper, almost a hiss. "Or should I give you ladies some privacy?"

"Listen, uh, Blizzard, I know that you're trying to help, but you need to turn yourself in-" Pyrrha begins.

"So we can lock you up in Beacon where you belong." Yang finishes.

"Not going to happen."

There's a white blur, followed by the sounds of a loud gunshot and the impact of a bullet on the wall.

"She's headed for the other door!" Pyrrha shouts as she runs after the masked woman.

"Follow her! I have an idea!" Yang replies, and starts running on the opposite direction.

* * *

 **Thursday**

It's almost dawn in Vale City. Yang Xiao Long reaches the steps of her apartment building and takes out her key.

"Don't turn around" the whisper comes from behind her as she feels something sharp against her back.

"You picked the wrong woman, sister." She says. "I'm a cop."

"I know. You're going to help me bring down Cinder Fall."

Yang turns around and feels the cold point of the rapier at her throat.

"I said don't. Turn. Around."

"Of course it's you." Yang says, seeing herself reflected in the blue lenses "Only you would be insane enough to say something like that. You do know you're insane, right?"

"I just want to clean up my city."

"No, what you want is an excuse to beat people up. Trust me, I can relate, but at least I got a badge."

There's an ever so slight increase in the pressure in her throat.

"Cinder Fall has been expanding her operation during the past two years, she pretty much owns the whole city. And the whole police department, of course. She needs to be taken down. Are you going to help, or should I find someone else?"

"Why me?"

"You're clean. You know how hard it is to find a clean cop in this city? The ones not on Fall's paycheck are the ones she's got dirt on."

"And here I was hoping it was 'cause of my pretty eyes."

The pressure decreases for an instant, only to come back stronger.

"Why not Pyrrha, though?" Yang asks. "She's clean too. And she's not a mess like me. Plus, you saved her life, so she owes you one. She's the one you want."

"She's... too perfect. I don't trust her."

"Don't know why I expected you to be familiar with logic." There's no answer but cold steel. "Fine. I'm in."

"Tomorrow night." Blizzard says, taking out an envelope from her coat with her free hand and handing it to Yang. "There's going to be a massive weapons shipment delivered to Fall's men. One of her lieutenants is going to be there. Take the weapons, and you weaken her. Get the man to talk, and she's yours."

"That's nice. And how am I supposed to do all of that, huh? Just walk to my boss and say 'hey, I need a bunch of men to go against the most powerful woman in the city because that nutjob in the mask said so'?"

"No! No one else. Just you. Be there, and I'll take care of the rest."

"You are joking, right?"

"I _never_ joke."

"No logic, _and_ no fun. Plus terrible taste in clothes. You and my ex would get along famously."

The rapier leaves her neck, and Yang's eyes linger on it for a second, before taking the gesture as a sign that the conversation is over. She turns around and begins to open the door.

"I'd invite you up for coffee, but my sister would probably flip." She says, looking over her shoulder, but her eyes find an empty street.

* * *

 **A Week Earlier.**

The rising sun shines through the many windows of Schnee Manor.

Weiss Schnee, cowl in her hand, wanders the empty halls.

"Ah. Welcome home, miss Weiss. Would you care for some tea?"

In an instant, a rapier slashes through the air and finds its way to the source of the voice. After a few seconds of absolute silence, its point lowers until it almost touches the ground.

"Glynda." Weiss says, coldly. "What are you doing here?"

"I heard the pleas of the bloodstained floors of the Manor in my dreams." Says a tall blonde woman as she takes a single finger to the bridge of her glasses "I can see this place is in dire need of my presence."

"No." Weiss says as she starts walking again.

"If you're going to live...if you can call this living, that is...here, then I suggest you get used to my presence." Glynda starts walking behind her. "I'm not about to allow you to destroy everything your parents held dear."

"You made your choice long ago Glynda. You chose, and I fired you."

"Well, yes. But things have changed now, haven't they?"

Weiss stops walking and turns around to look at the woman.

"So you no longer think I'm insane?" She asks.

Glynda looks at the red stained tip of the rapier. Then at the tightly gripped cowl.

"With all due respect miss Weiss, now I _know_ you are insane." Glynda says with a sigh. "But like I said, I'm determined to preserve everything your parents held dear... and I suspect it's going to be a difficult job if _she_ is going to be running around Vale City in tights on a suicide mission."

Weiss glares at the woman for a few seconds before letting out a long sigh of her own.

"Early Grey. No sugar." She says. "Make it a strong one."

"Business as usual, then. Luckily, I happened to bring some Earl Grey with me. You were fresh out, it seems."

"I'm fairly certain there's some left downstairs" Weiss says with a frown.

"Downstairs?" Glynda repeats, confused.

"Oh. Right. Yes, I've made some renovations."

"As far as I remember, the reason why the Manor never had a basement in the first place was because it was impossible. Something about a cavern system…"

"Exactly."

Understanding takes a few seconds to flow into Glynda's face, which is soon covered by her hand.

"I'd suggest you are joking, but-"

"I never joke." Weiss finishes flatly.

"Oh, I wouldn't go that far." Glynda says, showing the first smile in the entire conversation. "I seem to remember being the object of a few pranks back when this place was frequented by miss Xiao Long."

"Don't go there, Glynda." Weiss warns her coldly.

"I'm just suggesting it might do you good to get reacquainted with the sisters. They always managed to save you from your...darker moods."

"I don't need to be saved." Weiss says, anger beginning to break her mask of coldness, before turning and walking away, unable to see the sadness in the other woman's eyes. "I'll wait for the tea at the cave, I've still got work to do. The entrance is behind the grandfather clock in my mother's study. Just set the time to 10:47."

* * *

 **Thursday**

Soft, hesitant steps make it down the stairs of the cave.

The cave, mostly empty space, is engulfed in darkness, the staircase and a few battered desks against a wall the only parts illuminated with bright white light.

In the desk rest a series of computers and state of the art forensic equipment, plus the head of a slumbering Weiss.

"Miss Weiss?" Glynda's voice comes from the staircase, and Weiss wakes up startled.

"Over here." She says. "I was wondering if you were going to show up. I thought you might change your mind."

"Ridiculous." Glynda says as she appears at the end of the staircase, carrying a tray with a cup of tea.

"Thank you." Weiss says as she grabs it.

"Careful. It's hot." Glynda warns her, but Weiss ignores her and starts drinking.

"I spoke with Yang today." She says calmly as she puts th cup down.

"Oh?" Glynda says, with genuine surprise. "How did that go?"

"She referred to me as 'her ex'."

"Well, you are, aren't you?"

"...it's complicated."

"So you've been saying since you met her."

"Only because it's true."

"Fair enough. So, may I enquire as to the context of that comment?"

"She...didn't know she was talking to me. It was business, not…it was business. "

"Oh. _Oh._ Weiss. Are you sure that's wise?" Glynda asks "no pun intended" she adds hastily.

"I needed a cop I could trust. I had no choice."

"Right."

"I don't want to hear it Glynda. I know what I'm doing." Weiss says angrily before taking a sip of tea. "She also said I'm irrational, no fun, and criticized my fashion sense." She adds, looking into the tea, as if talking to herself.

"My. And was she speaking of Blizzard, or Weiss Schnee?"

"Both. She said we'd get along."

"Ah. She always was smarter than she let on, that girl."

"True. She still couldn't tell it was me from a few feet away though."

"I expect it's only a matter of time. And if I didn't know any better, I'd say you sound like you _wanted_ her to recognize you."

"I just...didn't expect the disguise to work so well."

"I admit I'm surprised as well. Why, the mask doesn't even cover all of your face."

"Not what I meant. She doesn't see Weiss Schnee behind the mask because she doesn't think it possible. Because the Weiss Schnee she knows is not me. I am Blizzard, Glynda. Weiss Schnee is the disguise. It's the only way this will work."

"And yet, when you needed help, you turned to her. That sounds like Weiss to me."

"Like I said, I had no choice. The reason I needed someone is time sensitive, I didn't have the time to go looking through the pile of garbage that is the VCPD for another clean cop. Trust me, if I could, I would. She's not exactly 'Vale's Finest'."

"Well, we agree on that, at last. She can be quite...impulsive." Glynda says, turning away to hide her smile.

"Impulsive? Hmm. I suppose. Only because she's passionate, though."

"Reckless."

"Some would call it bravery."

"Violent."

"Protective!" Weiss says, irritated, her eyes dagger fixed on the back of Glynda's head. "Besides, she would always avoid violence if she could help it, she just threatened people because she knew it'd get them to back off."

"She was naïve, too, but I expect her job has taken it out of her by now."

"Kind. She was kind, never naïve. She knew darkness, she understood it. But she never let it take over. Instead she'd reach out to anyone she found in it, even if they didn't deserve it. But yes, the city has taken a toll on her. It's still there though, her warmth."

"I see. May I suggest you tell _her_ all of this things?"

"I - oh. I see what you did there. Nice try. But I can't."

"And why not?"

"Because. I need to take down Cinder Fall. And then there's the Black Hat Gang, of course. And whoever comes after them. And so on."

"But surely-"

"No. I made a choice. I chose to live this life. I can't drag her into it. Or anyone else, for that matter."

Glynda takes a few seconds to look around her at the dark cave.

"If you excuse me, miss, how did _I_ earn the honor of being excempted from that rule?"

"Oh, please, you dragged yourself into this mess. I couldn't get rid of you if I tried."

"I suspect miss Xiao Long wouldn't hesitate to do the same if she knew the truth."

"I'm not so sure about that. She holds Blizzard in almost as much comptent as she does Weiss. She thinks I'm insane."

"Well, allow me to remind you, so do I. Doesn't do much to change things, does it?"

"We are _not_ having that conversation again." Weiss says, handing Glynda an empty cup of tea. "Now, I need to do some work before I get some sleep."

"May I help in any way?"

"No, that's-" Weiss stops midsentence. "Are you serious?"

"What do you mean, miss?"

"Do you really want to help with...this?"

It takes a few seconds before a small smile appears in Glynda's face and she answers.

"I am not wearing some silly costume. But I don't sea why I can't help you with some of the less exciting work, specially if it means you'll finally hear my plea and sleep in a proper bed for once."

"Fine then. Listen carefully. This-" She says, pointing at her computer screen. "Is everything we know about The Black Hat Gang. Once I take Cinder Fall down, I expect they'll be the ones with most to win from the power vaccuum. They are already one of the most dangerous elements in this city."

"Them? Are you sure? I am no expert on these matter - though I suspect I'll soon become one- but it was my understanding that they were little more than vandals."

"They are _much_ more than vandals. They are spread all over the city, they answer to no crime boss, not even Fall. They survive because they are constantly on the move, and always unpredictable. They thrive on chaos, and Cinders' fall is going to bring plenty of that."

"I thought you never joked?"

"I have no idea what you mean."

"Fine then. Be like that. So, what am I to do."

"Look for a pattern. Anything. Because right now, there's nothing. I have no idea where to start. I don't even know if there's a leader, or leaders. No Black Hat member ever caught has given any names. They claim they don't know any. Their leader is supposed to be Black Hat One, but the guy wears a mask. Are we sure it's always the same person? What if Black Hat One is a proxy of the real leader? And-"

"I understand" Glynda interrupts. "We know nothing. You don't like that. I'll get working on it. Perhaps a set of fresh eyes is exactly what this requires. You get some rest."

"Thank you. I will."

Weiss stands up and starts heading for the stairs, but Glynda's voice comes from behind her.

"Miss Weiss? If I may…"

"Yes, Glynda?"

"Please, give some thought to what we've discussed today. About miss Xiao Long."

"I will, Glynda. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, miss Weiss."

As Weiss' steps fade down the stairway, Glynda sits before the computer and stares at it for a few seconds.

"Now" she mutters. "Which is the 'any' key?"

* * *

 **Friday**

Almost perfect. _Almost._ That's what goes through Blizzard's mind as she darts through the warehouse, jumping one of Fall's unconsicous thugs as she does.

If only the delivery hadn't been ten minutes late.

If only Fall's lieutenant hadn't been standing so close to the door.

If only Yang hadn't been so _Yang_ and told partner.

If only Pyrrha Nikos wasn't such a _perfect_ cop.

Now, the weapons are on the wind, not on Fall's hands, but not secure either.

Now, the lieutenant is bleeding to death, caught in the crossfire when the cops walked in right behind his back. It's even likely a cop on Cinder's paycheck did the job to keep him quiet.

Now Pyrrha is a few steps behind her, possibly even gaining distance.

 _What was the point of all that endurance training in the himalayas then?_ Blizzard thinks.

She leaves the warehouse behind, but Pyrrha still follows, her gun on her hand, but not aimed at her. Blizzard sighs and readies one of her snowflake-shaped shuriken. She has never attacked a cop, not even a dirty one. And now she's about to go against the kind that gets 'hero cop' headlines.

She hears the voices of other policemen, a gunshot. Fall's people are still giving them trouble, but they'll be on her as well soon enough.

Without time to hesitate, in one swift move she stops, turns around knocks the gun from Pyrrha's hand. She gets ready to lunge forward and take the policewoman down as fast and as painlessly as possible, when she hears an engine roaring behind her.

"Yang?" Pyrrha asks, incredulous. "Where the hell did you get that?"

"I...took a few joy rides back in the day. Still remember some tricks. I'd like to her outrun _this_ baby." Blizzard looks over her shoulder. Yang is on a white motorcycle, a bright smile on her face.

"You…" Pyrrha begins. " _You stole it?_ " she shouts, out of herself. "Worst. Cop. Ever."

"You two." Blizzard hisses as she looks at the two women and calculates her moves. " _Really_ need to get a room."

* * *

The fight is over quickly. Pyrrha goes down, but not without leaving a few bruises. Blizzard turns to look at Yang, who's still on the bike, pointing a gun at her.

"Are you going to shoot me, Xiao Long?" She asks.

"That depends. How is she?"

"She'll be fine. I was as careful as possible."

"You were holding back? Against _her_?"

"I don't like fighting cops. Specially not good ones."

"Good. Because I don't like fighting pretty girls." Yang says, lowering the gun and getting off the bike. "Come on now, hop on."

"What?"

"Get on the bike! We need to get you out of here before someone else sees us!"

There's absolute silence as Blizzard walks over slowly and looks at the bike.

"Why are you doing this?" She asks.

"Are you really going to make me say it?" Yang asks. "I'm sorry, ok? I didn't mean for things to go this way. I just wanted Pyrrha to have my back. You had something good here, and I ruined it. Besides" she adds "I owe you one for saving her life back then."

"I thought you said I belonged at Beacon Asylum" Blizzard says carefully.

"Hell yeah. And apparently, so do I. Tell you what, when we eventually end up there, we can escape together. I'll bring Rita Hayworth. But my sister seems to think you're one of the good guys, and she's smarter than me."

"You don't give yourself enough credit." Blizzard says as she leans in and kisses the unsuspecting lips of the policewoman. It's not a long kiss, but Yang takes a deep breath afterwards.

"Woah." She says as Blizzard gets on the bike. "P-Pyrrha's as straight as they come, by the way. She's got a boyfriend and everything. And she's not my type. Too nice. _And_ tall."

"I'll keep it in mind." Blizzard says as she makes the bike's engine roar. "Thanks for getting a white one." She adds as she speeds away from the sound of approaching police sirens.

"I thought you'd appreciate it." Yang says to the empty street with a small frown, as she lightly feels her lips with her hand.

* * *

 **A.N: Finally broke down and had to introduce some of the characters interior towards the end of the chapter. The original idea of the story was to keep you out of it and let you make your own decisions from their external actions, but oh well.**

 **By the way, I decided that this story is going to be split in different arcs, comic-book style. This first arc is called Year Zero. I've got the name for the next one too, and that one's cool if you're a batman fan, but I want to wait until the right time to reveal it so I don't spoil anything.**


	4. The White Knight

She looks at the city below her. It's a dark, ugly city, but it's _her_ city. One day, when they are drowning in their own filth and blood, they'll look up to her and say: 'save us!', and she'll say...something really badass. But Ruby Rose still isn't sure what. She'll figure it out eventually though, she has time.

Because she's the hero the city deserves, but not the one it needs right now. She doesn't really know what that means, but it sounds _really_ cool.

She is Reaper. Or maybe Red Reaper. She hasn't made up her mind yet. Keeping the alliteration from her name feels right, but her costume is so red that there really is no need to have it in her name, it sounds redundant. Maybe once she partners up with Blizzard, she can convince her to change her name to 'Blue Blizzard' - then they could be Red Reaper and Blue Blizzard! Double alliteration!

She hears a sound behind her and she turns around, startled.

She sees a woman dressed in black leather land on the rooftop she's on and casually start walking to the next building, not even seeing her. Ruby examines the woman for a few seconds. She has long black hair, and she's wearing an equally black bow.

"Um" Ruby says. "Hi."

The woman turns to look at her with bright golden eyes, surprised.

"What are _you_ supposed to be?" she says, curious.

"I'm Ru-Reaper!" Ruby says. She realizes she's not wearing a mask (she hasn't made up her mind about which of the twenty designs she likes best yet) so she takes her cloak and covers the lower half of her face with it.

"...ok." Says the woman with a small smile as she shakes her head. "For a second I thought maybe Blizzard had decided to try a new color scheme."

"Ha! You wish I was her! She might be more merciful than me with criminals such as yourself!" Ruby says, pointing at the woman, and dropping the cloak in the process.

The woman tilts her head, amused.

"What makes you think I'm a criminal?"

"You-You're sneaking through rooftops!"

"Uh...So are you."

"B-but I'm a champion of Justice!" Ruby says, proud at the way she says the last word. _You can practically hear the capital J_ , she thinks.

"Sure. Whatever." The woman says as she walks to the edge of the building. ""I'd love to stay and chat, but...I get bored easily. Hence the rooftops. See you around, Reaper."

The woman casually makes the jump to the next building, lands gracefully, and starts running. It takes a full minute for Ruby to react.

"She…" she says "She called me Reaper! And she thought I was _Blizzard_!"

* * *

Heads turn as Weiss Schnee walks through the elegant crowd, champagne in her hand. She's the eye of a storm of gossip, moving it all over the ballroom but never touching it herself. Where was she all those years? Why is she here now? Who was that in the tabloids with her only last week? Those are some of the questions that spring in her wake, but none are ever addressed to her. That is, none but one.

"What the hell are you doing here?", the question cuts through the whispers like a hot knife through butter, silencing them. Slowly, Weiss turns around.

"Yang." She says, gripping her drink tightly as her eyes makes her way through the worn out shoes, the rented clothes and the loose yellow tie. "Hello. I _am_ part of the organizing committee behind the event. It's expected of me to be here."

Yang opens her mouth to reply, and the look on her face says she's not going to be polite about it, but she's cut off by Pyrrha, who walks from behind her in a red dress.

"Yang! There you are!" Pyrrha says, a bit too nicely, completely failing at her attempt to seem casual while defusing the situation.

"Pyrrha." Yang says, her eyes still fixed on Weiss.

"Aren't you going to introduce us?" Weiss asks, giving Pyrrha a curious look.

"Pyrrha, Weiss. Weiss, Pyrrha." Yang mutters moodily. The two women shake hands cordially, but the handshake ends up being awkwardly long as they use the time to examine each other.

"I must confess." Pyrrha begins. "I didn't really believe Yang when she said she knew you. But I'm glad it was true, I probably wouldn't have had this chance to properly thank you otherwise."

"Thank me?" Weiss says, confused. "Why?"

There's a moment of awkward silence as Pyrrha's smile wavers.

"um…" The redhead manages to say. Yang sighs.

"I thought you said you were in the organizing committee?" She asks, pinching the bridge of her nose. "How can you not know what the event is about?"

"Well, it's not like I actually took part on any of the meetings. They are all so...early. But I was assured it was for a good cause, so I signed the dotted line and threw some money at the right people." Weiss smiles shamelessly as she speaks, as if draining strength from Pyrrha's own smile, which is almost gone. However, Yang can't help but notice the bright smile does not reach the blue eyes. "I think I remember something about awards?"

"Yes. That's right." Yang says with an edge on her voice. "And award for exemplar civil servants. You know, firemen, policemen, things like that."

"Oh. Oh!" Weiss exclaims, turning to Pyrrha "Are you getting one?"

Pyrrha nods slowly, the new smile nowhere near as warm as the previous one.

"This whole thing is practically about her." Yang mutters under her breath.

"Well congratulations, miss Nikos!" Weiss says, raising her glass.

"Hey! Pyrrha!" a voice comes from behind Weiss "I've been looking all over for - oh god that's Weiss Schnee, Pyrrha! You're talking to Weiss Schnee! Are you sure we are allowed to talk to her?"

Pyrrha rolls her eyes, but her smile turns warm again as a nervous blonde man walks up to them.

"Yes honey, I'm pretty sure we're allowed." She says. "Weiss, this is my boyfriend, Jaune. Jaune, Weiss is an old friend of Yang."

"That's not…" Yang begins.

"Hello Jaune." Weiss interrupts, shaking his hand. Jaune mumbles something in return. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"I-I said it's a pleasure to meet you miss Schnee. And I want to take this rare opportunity to thank you for everything your family's done for me."

"This again?" Weiss says "What am I being thanked for now?"

Pyrrha turns to Yang, afraid, but the blonde cop says nothing. She doesn't look angry anymore, she just stares at Weiss, frowning.

"I-um. That's right. I guess there really isn't any reason why you should know." Jaune says, with a small, nervous laugh "I got the Schnee scholarship. It was the only reason I could make it to law school."

"Oh! Well I'm glad to hear that mister Arc. You're a lawyer, then?"

"Jaune's the knight in shining armor of the DA's office" Yang says brightly. Weiss and Pyrrha look at her, surprised at the sudden change of mood. "All the charisma he lacks in real life he has in the courtroom." Jaune begins to complain, but she doesn't leave him room for it. "He's like the Pyrrha of lawyers."

"She puts them behind bars..." Jaune says brightly, wrapping his arm around Pyrrha.

"And he keeps them there!" She finishes, giggling.

"You two are disgusting" Yang says, smiling, and Weiss giggles. The two exchange a look and the smiles vanish from their faces, too quickly for it not to be obvious for the other two. Jaune coughs awkwardly.

"So…" He says after a few seconds of silence. "How about that Blizzard, huh? We finally managed to make a case against William Fingers thanks to her."

"Who?" Weiss says.

"Really?" Yang asks, but there's little or no hostility in her voice. "You don't know who he is?"

Weiss simply shrugs.

"Big businessman" Jaune says. "Who kept getting bigger by stepping on small guys."

"Huh." Weiss said. "I thought the masked loon just went after street thugs."

Everyone looks at her for a few seconds.

" _Finally_ , someone who agrees with me." Pyrrha says. "First Jaune went all fanboy over her, and then Yang got all...weird."

"I'm just saying, she ain't done anything wrong." Yang says, defensively.

"She stabs people!"

" _Anyway_ " Jaune says, with the tone of someone unwilling to go through the same conversation for the hundredth time. "Her beating up street level criminals is what everyone knows, because word spreads. But if you go over the interrogations to those criminals, most of them say she asked them questions. _Very specific questions_. She's after bigger game, she's just using them to get there."

Weiss shrugs again.

"I still think she's insane. If she's even real."

"She's real." The other three answer in unison.

"...ok. That was slightly creepy." Weiss says.

There's the sound of static as someone turns on a microphone.

"this thing on?" a voice says.

"Um" Jaune says, looking at Pyrrha. "Shouldn't you…"

"Oh. Right. That's my cue. Gotta go. It was a pleasure meeting you, Weiss."

Pyrrha walks away, approaching the stage where the mayor begins to speak about all the noble virtues he lacks. He starts naming examples of great heroes and, in a predictable twist, the list turns from mythical and historic figures to the names of the people being celebrated tonight. As he names Pyrrha, Jaune cheers euphorically, drawing a little too much attention to himself.

Yang's attention, however, is fully focused on the white dress walking out of the room.

* * *

Weiss steps out of the ballroom and finds herself in a small balcony. She leans against the railing, looking at the city skyline, and lets out a small sigh.

"So." Yang says behind her. "Want to tell me what you're up to?"

"What do you mean?"

"Since you came back...no, that's a lie. _Since you left_ , I've been trying to understand you. And some things, while I may not like, I can somehow understand. Why you'd want to leave this hellhole, for example, or why you'd want to come back. I can understand that maybe after everything you went through, you might have convinced yourself you don't have the strength to care about anything but yourself anymore. But what I don't understand is the lies. You're _trying_ to be...this, Weiss, you _want_ people to think this is who you are."

"I'm having a hard time following your train of thought here, Yang." Weiss says, turning around. She finds the other woman close to her, and leans with her back against the balcony railing, as if trying to put as much distance between them as possible.

"Back there, you called Pyrrha and Jaune by their last names, but no one had mentioned them yet. You knew their names beforehand. Because you are in the committee, and because you have been keeping track of who gets the scholarship your father set up for the past fourteen years. I remember you being twelve and telling me you didn't have time to play because you were reviewing applications."

"Well done, _detective_." Weiss says with a crooked smile. "I was wondering if you'd notice."

"You...you did it on purpose? Why?"

"I was trying to prove a point. Or test a theory. Maybe both."

"Care to elaborate?" Yang says, frustrated.

"I'm not who you see on the papers, Yang. But I'm not the Weiss you once knew either."

Yang takes a small, hesitant step towards the other woman.

"Who are you then?" She asks. Weiss shrugs and looks away.

"Not sure I even know anymore."

"You used to be so... alive. It was scary, most of the times. There was so much anger, so much pain, but there was also light. You say you're not that person anymore Weiss, and for a long time I believed that, but sometimes I wonder...is that even possible? I remember the look you'd have on your face when you set your mind to something. The way your eyes shone when you talked about saving the city. You were pure passion, Weiss. I refuse to believe there's none of that fire left within you."

"Yang..." Weiss starts. Yang takes another step, and her hand finds its way to a pale cheek. Standing so close, she needs to look down to meet the blue eyes.

Then they hear the gunshots.

* * *

"Hellooooooo Vale City!" The man says. He's wearing a white tailcoat, a black ski mask and, over it, a black hat. It looks weird, but no one laughs. That's because of all of the assault rifles pointed at them by men wearing similar hats and masks. "My name is Black Hat One, and I'm here to take your money and teach you a lesson!" He says brightly. "So if you don't mind, please start dropping all your valuables in the bags beings passed around! Thank you! Meanwhile, we're going to learn about irony. Now, this is a very special day! Lot's of very nice people being given awards, how nice, how about a round of applause?" There's absolute silence. "I _said_ , how about a round of applause? Come on people, these guys are heroes! Oh, and if I don't clap, I'll shoot you."

Everyone claps, nervously looking around to check that everyone else is doing it.

"Thank you! In case you're wondering, yes, the police will be here any minute now. Those not among you, anyway. Nice of them not to be carrying guns. And yes, we already killed the ones that _did_ have guns. That was the gunfire you heard earlier. Now, while we wait for the cavalry...were was I? Damn it, I did it again, didn't I? Ugh, I hate it when this happens. Hey, Black Hat Two, where was I?"

"Irony, boss."

"Right! Irony! Yes. Well. Among the heroes being given shiny medals today is one Pyrrha Nikos. She's one of the gunless cops I mentioned. Earlier this month, thanks to her, a big criminal operation was interrupted by the police. Lots of people imprisoned and everything. I hear they almost caught the lovely lady in white. _Almost_. Now, when that happened, a certain merchant of ill repute ended up sitting on lots of assault rifles with no one to sell them to. He got a bit desperate and turned to me. The good news is he won't be selling guns in your backyard anymore, because he's suffering from a case of terminal bullet in the head. The bad news is now we've got a bunch of assault rifles, ammo included, and no idea what to do with them. Hence our current situation. That's right fellas, the deadly weapons aimed at you? Courtesy of miss Nikos! Now _that_ , and not rain in your wedding day, is irony! How about another round of applause? No? Oh well. I'm sorry miss Nikos, I tried. Anyway" he checks his watch. "The police will be here any moment now, and we're almost done filling the bags. So, one last thing. We need a proper hostage if we want to make it out of here alive. We need someone popular, someone loved by the cameras and the people of Vale. Oh, and loaded with money. Where's the lovely miss Schnee?"

Weiss, who is looking from the balcony with Yang, takes a step forward, but Yang quickly pulls her outside.

"Are you insane?" Yang whispers.

"Let me go! Who knows what he'll do if I don't go?"

"And who knows what he'll do if you _do_ go? No way, I'm not letting you."

Weiss raises an eyebrow.

"Not _letting_ me?"

"We don't have time for this. Jump. I'll tell them you left early."

"What?"

"Jump. We're only on the first floor, it's really low. And there's some pretty tall shrubs there, aim for them."

"Come with me."

"I can't. If someone doesn't sell the story…you need to get away, I'll tell them something, invite them to look around. The police will be here eventually."

"I'm not letting you-"

"I SAID-" the voice comes from inside. "WHERE. IS. WEISS. SCHNEE? If she doesn't come out in thirty seconds I start shooting people."

"I'm sorry about this." Yang says, as she lifts Weiss bridal style.

"Wait, no, what are you-"

Weiss disappears beneath the shrubs, and Yang hears her land.

"You ok?" She asks.

"I hate you."

"Yeah, yeah, I hate you too. Just... stay there, ok? I'll take care of this."

* * *

"Five. Four. Three…" Black Hat One stops counting as he sees the crowd before him give part and give way to the tall blonde woman. He tilts his head. "You don't look like miss Schnee."

"Schnee isn't here dumbass." Frantic whispering arises as everyone processes the information. Then one of the masked men shoots upwards, and silence takes over again. "She hooked up with some chick and left." Yang finishes, her eyes fixed on the gang leader.

"Well. It's not that I don't trust you blondie… Actually, it is. We know she's here."

"She. Left." Yang says clenching her fists and taking a step forward. "Feel free to look for her yourself, she's not here."

The man gets closer to Yang. As he speaks, he doesn't take his eyes off her.

"Three! Five! Eight! Any luck finding the princess?"

"Uh. No, sir. She's not here." Says one of the men as he approaches the leader.

"Did you check under the tables?"

"Uh…" the man starts.

With his eyes still on Yang, the leader takes out a gun and shoots the man. There's some screaming, quickly silenced by a new gunshot.

"Thirteen! Would you and twenty-one kindly help those idiots check under the tables?"

"S-sure thing boss" One of the men says.

Yang's eyes slowly go from the blood on the floor to the gang leader.

"You-" she begins, but she's interrupted as a small blue metallic canister with a snowflake on it falls between them.

They both look at it for a second. Then they look around to see similar canisters drop all around them, next to the armed men.

"What the-" says the man.

"Oh shi-" says Yang, trying to cover her face.

There's a blinding flash of light as the flashbangs go off. A second later, Yang feels someone push her to the ground.

"Stay down." someone hisses.

"Blizzard?"

Blizzard stands between her and Black Hat One, who stumbles backwards, disoriented.

"Oh. Oh this is _fun_!" he says. "It's _you_ isn't it? I was hoping to catch your attention!"

* * *

The effects of the flashbangs begin to fade from some of the least affected people.

They look around and see all the masked men on the floor, most of them unconscious, none of them armed.

At the center of the scene stands Blizzard, the point of her rapier touching the throat of the gang leader, who's holding something in his hand.

"So?" He says. "Aren't you going to do it?"

"Drop it."

"You can't, can you?" He says, laughing. "I thought maybe you were different. Special. But you're just like the rest of them. Or maybe you just need a little push?"

"I said. Drop it." Blizzard says.

The man looks at the black canister in his hand, then back at her.

"No fair! You got to play with _your_ toys!"

"I think you've had more than enough fun for a lifetime."

"And I think you haven't had enough." The man says as he opens his hand. All eyes in the room follow the metallic object. All eyes but Blizzard's, which stay on the safety pin hanging from one of the man's fingers.

In an instant, the two of them are engulfed in a thick black cloud.

* * *

Yang slams the door to the rooftop open and runs outside. She looks around, but sees no one.

"He's gone." a voice says behind her. "I lost him."

She turns around, looks up, and finds Blizzard on top of the water tank, looking at the distant city skyline.

"Eh. Happens to the best of us. Don't worry, we'll get him eventually."

"He's dangerous." Blizzard goes on. "Maybe even more than Cinder Fall."

"Some would say the same of you." That gets a reaction. Blizzard turns to look at her. In one swift move the masked woman is standing right in front of her. "N-not me, though." Yang adds quickly. "Just saying, what you did in there today? Kinda reckless."

"I had it under control."

"So did I, before you blinded me!"

" _You"_ hisses Blizzard sharply, getting closer to Yang. "did _not_ have itunder control. If anyone was being reckless in there, it was you."

"I was playing it safe! You were the one who blinded the people with the killing machines!"

"You were making them panic! I had to act fast!"

The two of them silently glare at each other for a few long seconds. Then, wordlessly, they lunge into each other's arms, sharing a long kiss.

"You are _so_ gonna get me fired one day." Yang says against Blizzard's lips as she pushes her against the door to the staircase with her body.

"Don't blame _me_ for _your_ poor impulse control, detective." replies the masked woman, biting her lip. Then, before Yang can react, she gets free from Yang's hold and runs for the edge of the building. "Someone's coming." She says. "Wouldn't want them to get the wrong idea."

Yang opens her mouth to reply, but is startled when the door suddenly opens next to her.

"Pyrrha!" She says, panicked. She looks back at Blizzard, but there's no one there. "Um. Hi."

"Oh thank god." Pyrrha says as she stops to catch her breath. "We thought maybe they had taken you as a hostage."

"Me? Nah! No one would give a damn. Hell, the commissioner would probably see it as a chance to get rid of me." She says laughing, but then her smile freezes. "Wait. Hostage. Damn. Weiss!"

"We couldn't find her anywhere. Did she really leave early?"

"Um. I sort of dropped her off the balcony. She wanted to turn herself in to them. I know, I know. Worst cop ever."

"Actually, I thought your plan was going quite well until the vigilante showed up." Pyrrha says with a bitter smile.

"I _know_ , right?" Yang exclaims loudly.

"Yes." Pyrrha says, raising an eyebrow. "No one's disagreeing with you, Yang."

"Right. Yeah. So, Weiss said she was ok when I dropped her. Kind of. But we should probably go make sure."

"Too bad she missed the fireworks. Maybe if she properly saw the trainwreck that is Blizzard she'd be inclined to speak against her. Maybe she'd even 'throw some money at the right people'."

"Ha. Yeah. I still think you wouldn't be this pissed off if she hadn't beat you, though."

"Yang!"

"What? Come on, admit it, you got a taste of defeat for the first time in your life and you didn't like it."

"Shut up."

"No, you shut up."

* * *

Pyrrha and Yang sigh in relief as they see Weiss ride off in her limousine. The girl had been furious at Yang and wouldn't stop complaining about her 'probably' twisted ankle.

"I don't get it Yang." Pyrrha says over the sound of various sirens "Blizzard beat both of us back in the docks, but somehow you managed to actually warm up to her after that."

Yang shrugs, but gives her partner a curious look, surprised she'd go back to their previous conversation.

"I can respect a woman that can throw a punch."

"Uh, you certainly didn't warm up to _me_ after I beat you up back at the academy. Quite the opposite in fact."

"I just like that someone finally got to land a punch on you, ok?"

Pyrrha narrows her eyes.

"Are you sure it's just that?"

"Y-yeah! What else could it be?" Yang says, defensively.

"Oh god." Pyrrha says, burying her face in her palm. "Yang. Please, _please_ tell me you don't find her attractive."

Silence is the only answer.

"Yang!"

"It's not my fault! I saw her beat you up in like, ten seconds! Do you have any idea how hot that is?"

"No. Just...no. I'm not having this conversation."

"You're not having what conversation?" Jaune asks as he walks over to them, putting on his coat. "I'm done with my statement by the way. I think they'll let us go any second now."

"Yang" Pyrrha says, angrily pointing at her partner. "Thinks Blizzard is 'hot'."

"Oh." Jaune says, blushing. "But she's not. That's silly. Stop being silly Yang. Ha ha. Blizzard, hot. Where does she gets this stuff, eh?"

Pyrrha's palm hits her face so loudly that some people, still on edge, turn startled to look for the source of the sound.

"Blizzard. Black Hats. And now you two. Am I the only sane person in this city?"

The other two look at each other for a second.

"Probably, yeah" They say in unison.

"You." Pyrrha says, pointing at Yang. "Are going home. No bars, no work, nothing. I'm going to be too busy to carry your drunk and/or wounded ass tonight." Then she turns to Jaune, furious. "And _you_ " Jaune audibly gulps. Pyrrha grabs him by the tie and pulls him into a kiss. "I'm going to make you forget you even _heard_ the word Blizzard."

* * *

 **A.N: Long chapter! For my standards anyway.**

 **I'm not exactly a big Ladybug fan, so don't be surprised if it doesn't into actual romance stuff, just thought that would be a fun scene, and it helps introducing Blake before her arc begins to unfold. Nothing against the pairing, I just don't want to mislead anyone.**

 **Oh, and to the guy who guessed that Pyrrha was going to be Two-Face: I wasn't expecting anyone to suggest that before this chapter! Now you have two options for potential Two-Face (two! Get it? Ha!)**

 **For people who read my other fics: The next chapter of _The Mirror, Cracked_ is about halfway done. I haven't written _Change the World_ since I uploaded the latest chapter, as I wanted to catch up with Mirror, which was due for an update, and this story is sort of forcing itself upon me. It's stronger than me.**

 **Next Time, On Blazing Blizzard: Blake! Glynda! Cinder! And _Stuff_!**


	5. All-Star Blizzard and Reaper

Yang runs through the streets of Vale, stepping on the muddy puddles that had once been snow. Spring had started late this year, and it had even snowed one month into it (some people blamed 'the Blizzard'), but now it was finally getting warm. It should have been a quiet night. Some proper detective work, visiting crime scenes and asking questions, not the soul-crushing legwork the people upstairs seemed to love giving Pyrrha and her as a punishment for not playing their game. But of course, when you visit the right crime scenes and ask the right questions, things find the way to get exciting anyway.

It feels _nice_ though, like in the old days when she was fresh out of the academy, the feeling of getting closer and closer to the bad guy, and a proper bad guy at that, 'steal from the poor to give to the rich' bad guy. And the best part? Pyrrha is falling behind!

The man turns on an alley, and Yang smiles to herself, knowing she's seconds away from getting him. She reaches the alley only a few seconds later, barely out of breath, and finds the man on the floor, his face deep in what's probably the last pile snow left in the city.

For a second, she assumes he just slipped in the wet cobblestones of the alley, but then an alternative makes its way to her mind. She looks around, but sees no one. She looks up and sees nothing but a cloudy sky lit by a hidden full moon.

"I had him, you know!" She shouts at the rooftops, just in case. As she gets on her knees to check on the unconscious man and make sure he doesn't drown in snow, she misses a strange metallic sound and as a wire crosses the street from the rooftop of one of the buildings next to the alley and reaches a taller building on the other side.

A white figure swings from one side to the other, landing feet first on the side of the building, grunting slightly as she does so.

"Miss Weiss? Are you ok?" Glynda's voice comes from her earpiece.

"I'm fine Witch-One. The grappling gun still needs some work." Blizzard mutters as she makes her way to the rooftop. "And don't call me that. We need to be careful."

"Said the grown woman hanging from a building with her _grappling gun_ " Glynda says, and Weiss can almost hear her rolling her eyes. "Where did you get that...device anyway?"

"I made it."

"Ah. Of course."

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that, Witch-One"

"Well miss, I mean, _Blizzard_ , I suspect you'll want to hear _this_. Someone just called 911...is this legal, by any chance?"

"Focus, Witch-One."

"Right. Silly me, worrying about the law. As I was saying, someone called 911…"

* * *

Someone knocks on the old wooden door of the small apartment.

There is no answer. Inside, everything remains dark and still.

"I'm going to try once more, and then I'm going to shoot the lock out of your door" comes a voice from the other side. "I hate wasting a good bullet though, so don't be surprised if I'm not so nice afterwards. Now, miss Fall would like a word with you, so please, _would you kindly_ open the door and come with us?"

There's silence.

There's a gunshot.

There's the sound of feet rushing into the room.

A man curses as he looks around the empty place, his eyes finally reaching the open window.

Outside, standing on the ledge of the building, Blake Belladonna casually fixes her bow, as if completely unaware of the fact that a misstep could have her falling to her death. She takes out from a pocket a pair of black gloves with metallic, claw-like tips and puts them , in one swift move, she turns around and starts climbing.

It doesn't take her long to reach the top of the low apartment building, and a sad smile shows on her face as she looks down at the window. It had been a nice apartment, but nothing close to a home. She hadn't even been there for a month.

"Hello." A voice comes from behind her. Slowly, she turns around. "I thought you might try one of your daring escapes again."

"Cinder." She says, unconsciously taking a step back only to find there's nowhere to run. "Please, just leave me alone. I just want to be left alone."

"Oh, sweetie. I wish it was that simple." Cinder Fall says with a smile on her face as she approaches the younger woman. "But really, this is for your own safety. We can't have you running around these neighborhoods, not when you're worth so much."

"Just take it, ok? Take it all. I don't want it. It's blood money anyway."

"Oh, that's not very nice. Your father worked very hard for it, you know? And he loved you so much, he wanted you to have it all. Too bad he forgot to mention it to _his wife_." Cinder keeps walking until she's at arm's length of Blake. "Now, we both know things would be _much_ easier if you were to die. And with all that rooftop jumping and breaking and entering you love to do at night, it's only a matter of time until you make a mistake and plummet to your death. I am, however, a practical woman. I _could_ kill you, Blake. Right now, in fact. But it would only be the beginning of a long, _boring_ , paperwork process. But if you just come with me, we can work this out quietly, with no stress for anyone. Now, wouldn't that be _nice_?" As she says the last word, Cinder reaches for a loose lock of Blake's hair. Instinctively, Blake pushes her away. They struggle, and Cinder backs away, taking a hand to her face.

"That..." She says, looking at the blood in her hand. There are three parallel wounds in one of her cheeks, all of them bleeding. Blake stares at the bloodstained claws in her hand. "Hurt." She lunges forward against Blake once more, and manages to overpower her.

For a second, Blake feels weightless.

Then she begins to fall to her death.

* * *

Cinder smiles as she sees the look of horror in Blake's face as she falls. It was going to mean paperwork, true, but she was glad to _finally_ be done with that brat of a stepdaughter. For a second, only a second, she contemplates looking away and missing the big moment.

But she doesn't. Instead, she keeps her eyes fixed on the horrified expression…

* * *

"My hero." Blake says. She had meant to say it in her trademarked sarcastic tone, but the gasping made it sound sincere. She's lying flat on the ground, which insists on spinning around. She can feel her heart trying to rip its way out of her chest.

"You can let go now." Blizzard grunts.

Slowly, Blake loosens her grip, revealing bloodstained claws.

"Sorry." She manages to say. That's when she becomes aware of just how close her saviour is from her. A hand finds its way to the pale, half-covered cheek. Filled with adrenaline, Blake closes her eyes and reaches for Blizzard's lips with her own.

And finds nothing.

She opens her eyes and sees Blizzard already standing, examining their surroundings.

"We need to move. Now." Blizzard says, meeting her eyes. "How are your legs?"

"Shaking." She says, biting her lip.

"Can you run?"

Blake rolls her eyes as she stand up in one swift move. The ground is still somewhat...spinny, but she manages to hide it.

"Please. I've been doing this kind of stuff since I could walk."

"Good." Blizzard says, suddenly pressing herself against her as she lifts her grappling gun and aims it at a nearby building. "Do try to be more careful this time with those claws."

* * *

"I need to get myself one of those." Blake says as the grappling gun vanishes inside Blizzard's coat. "Where did you get it?"

"I made it."

"Of course."

Blizzard's only answer is an inflectionless hum.

"So…" Blake says, looking around at the empty rooftop. "Do you always travel like this? Grappling guns and rooftop jumping?"

There's no answer.

"You should get a car."

Another hum.

"Is there any reason why we stopped here?"

As if to answer the question, the door to the rooftop opens.

Yang walks out, fully focused on a pack of cigarettes. She closes the door behind her with her foot as she takes out a lighter.

She curses after a few failed attempts at get a flame.

A cough gets her attention, and she looks up to see the two women looking at her.

"Uh." She says. "Either of you ladies have a light?"

* * *

Ruby is late. Yang's probably home by now, wondering where she is. But Ruby lost track of time while practicing her rooftop jumping (she's been practicing martial arts since she was six years old, but she's still missing the _important_ skills).

As she approaches her building's rooftop, she sees two silhouettes standing on it.

With her admittedly still-being-worked-on stealth skills, she makes it to the building and finds a spot to hide between the walls of the staircase and the water tank. She almost lets out a startled squeak as the door to the staircase opens, really close to her.

After the door closes, Ruby hears the all too familiar sound of Yang's cheap lighter. Then there's a cough.

"Uh." Yang says. "Either of you ladies have a light?"

"Sorry, no." Says a familiar voice.

"You shouldn't smoke, detective." Says another voice. It sounds like a loud whisper, but there's something even more familiar than the first voice behind it.

"Thanks, mom. May I ask what you two are doing in my rooftop?"

"Waiting for you to come out for a smoke." The whisper says.

"Well, that's not creepy." Yang says. "Though I guess I should be flattered. How many women can claim Vale's masked crusader knows their every move?"

 _No. Way._ Ruby doesn't say, very loudly.

"Just you and Cinder Fall."

 _Blizzard. She's working with Blizzard! My sister!_

"If you two are done with the flirting…" says the third voice. Ruby _knows_ she knows it from somewhere, but there's bigger things on her mind right now.

 _Flirting? Was that flirting? Is Yang flirting with Blizzard? WHY IS YANG FLIRTING WITH BLIZZARD?_

"We're not flirting." Yang and Blizzard say, simultaneously.

 _OH MY GOD IT WAS TOTALLY FLIRTING._

"Yeah, whatever. Anyone's going to explain to me what we're doing here?"

"That's what I'd like to know." Yang says.

"I need a favour." Blizzard says. "She needs a place to stay."

"What?" The other two say.

"Fall's after her. We need to keep her safe until it's the right time."

"I didn't agree to this!" The annoyingly familiar and yet unknown voice says.

"Fine. Go then. Good luck out there by yourself."

"Can't she just go into witness protection?"

"You know as well as I do she can't, detective. It's not safe" Blizzard says.

"I don't know about this…"

"Yeah, me neither." Yang says, taking a deep breath. "Are you sure this is the best option?"

"I am."

"Okay then. Good enough for me."

 _What._

"It will only be for a few weeks. Fall won't be a threat much longer."

"Fine." The other two say after a few seconds. Something tells Ruby Blizzard is not really giving them a choice.

"Good." Blizzard says. "...and I need another favour."

"Someone's needy today." Yang says, and Ruby can _hear_ her smirk. She bites her hand to stop herself from screaming at her sister.

"There's an alley at Kent street, between Jordan and Allen." Blizzard says, ignoring the comment. "meet me there one week from now."

Yang sighs.

"Fine. It's a date."

"Ugh." Says the third voice, as Ruby makes a superhuman effort not to bang her head against the wall.

"Let's go" Yang says, opening the door. "You'll have to sleep on the couch though, I need my beauty sleep, and there's no way my sister's letting go of her bed."

 _Hey! I can totally share my bed with a stranger and thank god telepathy isn't a thing. God I hope telepathy isn't a thing._

"Thanks again for- She...she's gone." The not-completely-unknown voice says.

"Yeah, she does that." Yang says casually as she walks down the stairs.

"But we only turned around for what, a second?"

The voices fade as the door closes.

"Hello." Blizzard says, right behind Ruby.

* * *

Ruby turns around, slowly.

"What do you think you're doing?" Blizzard asks, coldly.

"I, uh, training?"

"Training." Blizzard repeats, flatly. "This isn't a game. It stops now."

"What? No! You can't tell me what to do!"

"You stop now or I tell your sister, miss Rose."

"How do you- I mean, who?" Ruby sighs. So much for mask number 7 "Please don't tell her. She'd kill me."

"If you don't stop, she's not going to have a chance to."

"Listen, I know what I'm doing ok? I know martial arts and-"

"No."

"But-"

"No."

"But I'd be so good at it! And we could team up! I'm great with computers, I can get into the VCPD system for you!"

"You just confessed to a major crime, you dolt." Blizzard says annoyed, and then suddenly becomes very tense.

"I said I _can_ , not that I _did_! And who says 'dolt' anyw-oooohhhhh. Oh. OH! Oh god."

Ruby examines Blizzard for a few seconds.

"Weiss?"

"Excuse me?"

"Oh my god it's really you!"

"Miss Rose-"

"Come on Weiss, you can stop now."

Weiss sighs, taking off her cowl.

"Weiss!" Ruby whispers loudly, completely failing at her attempt at being quiet. "You're the goddamn Blizzard!"

"Language! How did you know?"

"Um, because you called me dolt? And because it's like, _really_ obvious once you stop to think about it."

Weiss lets out an outraged gasp, and Ruby giggles at the difference in character once the cowl comes off.

"I am _not_ obvious!"

"Puh-lease. You came back around the same time Blizzard showed up, you were all about 'saving the city' before you left, _mysteriously_ , may I add, and you are supposed to be a party girl but you hate parties, which is probably to give you an excuse for being out all night. Oh, and you have lots of money for the cool gadgets - Nora Valkyrie says you got a grappling gun, by the way. Is it true? Where did you get it?"

"I made it."

"Of course you did."

"Why does everyone keep saying that?!"

"Uh...I don't know about _everyone_ , but you know, there's no way _you_ are going to trust _someone else's_ grappling gun."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"Nothing! Nothing! Sorry!" Ruby says, laughing. Weiss looks at her, annoyed, but with a small smile on her face. "Wait. Does this mean you and Yang are back together?"

"W-what? What do you mean?" Weiss says, and Ruby becomes the first person to see Blizzard blush. _Blizzard Blush_ , her brain stores the alliterative words for future use. "We- we'd have to have been 'together' before being 'not together' so we could be 'back together' and we were never really, you know, 'together', not officially, it...it's…"

Ruby sighs at the sight of the mumbling crusader.

"Yeah, yeah, 'it's complicated', I know. Though I'm starting to realize maybe that wasn't just you two being stubborn after all. Anyway, you guys were being all flirty back there, which was _really weird_ , by the way, but at least my sister wasn't hitting on Blizzard, she was just hitting on her, um, not-ex."

"I...Ruby. You can't tell Yang."

"Can't tell Yang what?" Ruby asks, then realization floods her face. "Oh! She _was_ hitting on Blizzard!"

"...yes."

"She's insane."

"I'd argue the definition of that term needs to be revisited."

"How does she _not know_?"

"I put up an act around her. Both as Blizzard and Weiss."

"But still…"

"I'm sure she'll figure it out. If I don't tell her first. I don't think she _wants_ to know who Blizzard is, and she really doesn't want to think about Weiss."

Weiss walks towards the edge of the building, and Ruby joins her.

"How is she?" Weiss asks, looking at the city lights.

"Better, actually. Hopeful, even. I think she believes in you. In Blizzard, that is. I mean, she still says you're insane, but she also says that maybe the city _needs_ to get crazy so it can get better."

"Ha."

"Yeah. She's smiling more too, talks about all the good Pyrrha and her are doing out there. It reminds me of who she was before...well, before you left."

Weiss looks away.

"I'm sorry I left you two like that. But I had to-"

"I know. I get it now. I understand, Weiss. Why you do what you do. I get it. And I want to help."

"No."

"Weiss-"

"This is dangerous, Ruby. Too dangerous. You don't understand-"

"I do!" Ruby screams suddenly, with tears in her eyes. "I do understand. You're not the only one who lost people Weiss. You're not the only one who wants to make Vale a better place."

"You're just a kid!"

"I'm two years younger than you! I'm older than you were when you left."

"I...you are so...stubborn and childish and ugh. You're not going to stop, are you?"

"I can _help_ , Weiss."

Weiss sighs.

"Yang's going to kill me."

A huge smile appears on Ruby's face.

"Does that mean-"

"It _means_ if you're going to be doing this anyway, at least I can try and help you not die." Weiss says, looking at her with a fierce expression. "You're going to have to follow my rules. Everything I say. To the letter."

"Yes, madam!" Ruby says, saluting.

"Rule one: don't ever do that again."

"Sorry."

"Rule two: no more costumes, no more 'training' out here."

"But-"

"Not until you're ready. You're going to get a job at Schnee Enterprises. You'll actually be coming to the manor to train. Properly."

"I already have a job at Schnee Enterprises."

"You do?" Weiss says, surprised "Since when?"

"Since I graduated early and was recruited by some guys with fancy suits after I was caught, um, allegedly snooping around."

"I see. You were spying on my company."

"I wanted to find out where you were!" Ruby complained. "I didn't."

"Of course not. I didn't want to be found."

"Yeah yeah, you're awesome, I need to train, I get it. So, when do we start?"

"I'll let you know. Need to get things ready. For now, you need to go back before Yang wrecks the whole city looking for you. Tell her you were out with me if you want- Weiss, not Blizzard, obviously. I'll take the heat."

"She really doesn't know?"

Weiss nods.

"So what, you guys just hook up on rooftops and make out in dark alleys or something?" Ruby asks, as she gets on the tip of her toes to reach for a nearby air vent.

"I-no! Well, sometimes, but it's not like we _plan_ it! It just...happens."

Slowly, Ruby gets her red backpack with a hidden change of clothes from the vent, and turns to look at Weiss with an expression of complete disbelief.

"...I was kidding." She says.

"Oh."

"So you two actually…"

"Sometimes."

"This...is way more than I needed to know about my sister."

"I think it would be best for both of us if we agreed to just stop talking right now."

Ruby nods silently, making a zipping gesture on her mouth.

She walks to the door but then realizes she's still in costume.

"Hey, I sort of need to get cha-" she begins, but Weiss is nowhere to be seen.

* * *

"Yang? I'm home!" Ruby says as she opens the door carefully. She looks around trying to spot the mysterious girl with the familiar voice, but doesn't see anyone.

"Where the hell were you?!" Yang shouts as she opens the door to her room, slamming it against the wall.

"Out. With Weiss. We went for dinner and then we kinda...got carried away. Sorry."

"Weiss! That...ugh! I knew this was her fault! I mean, I had no idea she had anything to do with this but I totally knew, you know?"

"...no?"

"I mean, this is totally the kind of thing she'd do!" Yang's angry, but she's not angry _at Ruby._ The younger girl makes a mental note to remember she can use Weiss as a magic word to get out of trouble. She feels guilty about it, of course, but it's not like she has any say on what her brain notices.

"Okay? So...what's up?" Ruby says with a yawn as she walks to her room."

"Oh. Right. We have a guest." Yang's voice comes from the kitchen. "She'll be staying for a while in the couch. But right now she's-"

"...In my room."

"Yeah."

"Half naked."

"Probably. I mean, she needed to borrow some clothes and I told her...wait."

"Yeah."

Ruby leans against the _very_ closed door to her room, her face even redder than her clothes. Yang's loud laughter fills the apartment, but it's like a whisper next to the soft steps Ruby hears getting closer to the door.

She closes her eyes as she hears the door knob turning behind her.

"Hello Reaper." The golden eyed girl whispers in her ear. "Fancy seeing _you_ here."

"Wh-what are you doing here?" She manages to mumble, completely frozen in her place.

"I'm your new roommate. Say, your sister refuses to give me her bed, but that couch seems so...small. Do you think the two of us could maybe, I don't know," There's a small pause and Ruby gets the feeling the other girl is _smelling_ her. "work something out?"

"I AM NOT SHARING MY BED WITH A STRANGER!" Ruby shouts, her eyes still closed.

There's a few seconds of silence, broken by Yang's renewed laughter.

"I...was thinking we would take turns on the couch. But I'm open to alternatives."

"Yes. That. Turns. Sounds good." Ruby says. She turns around and her eyes meet the golden ones. The other woman is wearing one of her t-shirts, a red one with a black cat on it. It's a cute shirt, but it's a bit tight on the other girl. Ruby will never, ever see it the same way again. As for the lower half of the girl, Ruby can't see it right now, because she's looking at the gleaming eyes and not looking (very actively not looking, that is) at the athletic legs dressed in nothing but black socks and black underwear.

"I'm Blake, by the way."

"Ru-Ruby."

"Nice to meet you, Ruby" Blake says with a smirk.

"Sorry about this Rubes." Yang says behind Ruby, startling her. "She'll only be here for a few weeks, a month tops."

"Good. I mean, okay."

"Ah, don't listen to her." Yang says wrapping an arm around her sister. "She's bad at people."

"That's okay," Blake says with a smile "I'm bad at people too. I'm more of a cat person, to be honest." She points at the shirt as if to illustrate her point, but Ruby doesn't even notice because, as far as she's concerned, Blake is a floating head and there's definitely no half naked body down there.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, Yang speaks.

"I think" she says carefully. "It's been a long night. We could all use some rest. Ruby, why don't you let Blake have the bed tonight?"

Ruby nods and Blake smiles at her.

"Thank you Ruby. I think I'll get a glass of milk first, though. You go ahead and get changed."

Blake casually walks past the two sisters towards the kitchen.

Ruby and Yang do not look like sisters at all and, except perhaps for their vitality, they rarely behave similarly. They don't even share a last name. But their genetics become apparent as, in complete harmony, they both instinctively turn around to look at the third woman, tilting their heads ever so slightly.

"Huh." They say as Blake vanishes into the kitchen.

* * *

 **A.N:**

 **tl;dr: This chapter got too long and I had to split it in half. Sadly, most of the Freezerburn stuff is in the next half (which isn't finished yet)**

 **longer explanation: originally, there was going to be a time gap between Blake's fall (which ended in a cliffhanger) and what comes in the next chapter, and most of this chapter would have been flashbacked. Then as things started taking shape I decided against it because of story reasons that I won't explain (spoilers!). I am still conflicted about Ladybug, but Catwoman needs to have a certain sensuality, and both Yang and Weiss are taken (though you still can't have Catwoman without** _ **some**_ **sexual tension with Batman). I decided to go with awkward Ruby, let me know what you think.**

 **The focus of the story is still very much Freezerburn, both Ruby and Blake are relatively minor characters who'll have their spotlights every now and then.**

 **Not gonna lie, I'm not that happy with this chapter. The whole premise that I had in chapter one with the style is completely out the window by now, and I wrote it in a weird order. The uncertainty about where to go with Ladybug and what to set up now and what to leave for later with Blake made it really hard to write as well.**

 **We are nearing the end of the first arc. There's the next chapter (which was originally part of this) and then one or two left, at most.**


	6. The Brave and The Bald

Michael Lennon is a young, moderately successful businessman with a last name that's a great conversation starter. Right now, he's on a fancy mirrored elevator, on his way to the 50th floor for a meeting in his boss' luxuriously intimidating office.

"nana nana south Detroit" he hums along the elevator music.

A sound comes from above him and the lights blink a few times before going dark for a few seconds.

He sighs in relief as the lights come back on and he notices the elevator is still functioning normally. As it reaches the 40th floor, his eye catches something strange on one of the mirrored walls. Slowly, he turns around and finds bright blue eyes looking at him.

"Grappling gun got jammed." Explains a cold voice, devoid of inflection.

"Ah." He says, as he turns around to face the door again. He has used this elevator for years, but he's only now noticed that it has the most interesting door in the entire universe. "nanana eeeeverywheeere." He hums.

* * *

 _Ding._

Michael steps out of the elevator and stands still for a few seconds. As he hears the sound of the closing doors, he nervously risks a look behind his shoulder. The only thing he sees before the doors close is his reflection looking back at him from the back wall of the elevator.

* * *

High heels step loudly and quickly on the hallway floor.

"What do you mean" Cinder Fall's voice says, full of poison. "it's gone?"

"A-all of it. The money, the papers, everything." Says the poor bastard walking a few steps behind her "We think maybe he was afraid the Bliz- um, _she_ would get him and he moved it before he got caught. That or she _did_ get him and now she has everything."

The heels stop right before a large and elaborate wooden door.

"Thank you." Cinder says. "You can leave now."

She walks into the dining room. While it's at the top floor of one of the city's tallest buildings, it looks closer to something you'd find in a manor, or even a castle.

In the middle of the room, a long wooden table is set for dinner. There's eight chairs around it, but only three are occupied. Whatever whispers there were before she entered the room are gone now. All eyes are on her as she gracefully walks to her chair at the other end of the room.

She sits, looks at the food on her plate and, after a small appreciative nod, she beings to eat. The rest silently emulate her.

"W-what happened to your face?" asks an overweights man. Cinder glares at him.

"Cat." She says, spitting the word, as her hand hovers over the three thin lines on her cheek.

"Oh." Says the man, who suddenly finds himself very hungry.

"Now, if you lot have already taken a good look, I propose we begin. We need to talk." She says. "about Blizzard."

"She got Fingers" says a man bald man with a scottish accent. " _and_ Cain. Only a matter of time until she gets the rest of us!"

"Whatever happened to you owning the police force?" asks a woman sitting in front of him.

"I _do_ own them." Says Cinder "But there's only so much money and fear can do, Neiman. She doesn't play by the same rules we do. Cain and Fingers got careless, that's why they got caught. "

"Oy, I'm with Gail on this one. You said-"

"I _said_ you didn't have to worry about the police, Morris. And you don't. That doesn't mean you can do whatever the hell you want. There's other things at play. Politics, for one. The mayor may be in our pocket, but he's useless to us if everyone thinks he's...well, useless. If some kid on the DA's office comes with a case that is a PR miracle, if the Vale Gazette gets entire boxes of documents, if criminals turn themselves in asking for dry pants in exchange for selling their bosses out, well, what am I supposed to do? The rug is only so big, and you idiots went and hid all your garbage under it, now we can't use it to hide the body."

"What body?" the fat man asks.

"It's a metaphor, Schneider." Says the scottish man. "You know, how in the movies they wrap bodies in a rug-"

"Oh, I get it. Clever."

"You people." says Cinder, seething "are going to be the end of me."

The lights go off.

"No." a terrifying voice comes from the darkness. "I will."

There's the sound of falling chairs as panic sets in.

"Ladies. Gentlemen." Says the voice from the shadows. "You have eaten well."

"A-actually, we were just getting started." Schneider's voice comes from somewhere under the table.

"I meant metaphorically." The voice says, annoyed. "You have eaten Vale's soul. But I'm here to get it back. None of you are safe."

Light floods the room. Slowly, Schneider comes out from his hiding spot and finds the two women eating their dinner.

"W-where is Morris?"

Neiman shrugs.

"I expect _she's_ got him. Probably found out he was planning to leave the country."

"She...she's never done anything like that before. Come straight for one of us."

"She's getting bolder." Cinder says calmly as she drinks some red wine. "and I'm afraid we're getting weaker. What was that about Morris leaving the country?"

"He...just something he said the other day, about going back to Scotland for a while, until things calmed down."

"Coward. Just like Cain. And _you_ " She says, looking at Schneider. "If we want to survive this, and make no mistake, our survival _is_ at stake here, we'll need to get braver. Go home. Make whatever calls you need to make. Tomorrow, we go to war."

* * *

Yang Xiao Long lights a cigarette and leans against a brick wall in a dirty alley between buildings. A strange sound comes from above, catching her attention. She looks up in time to see Blizzard descend gracefully, land a few inches from her, and drop the man she had been carrying on her shoulder.

"Aw, you got me a present! You shouldn't have!"

"And as I've said before," Says Blizzard, taking the cigarette from her. "You shouldn't smoke. It's bad for you."

"You're kidding." Yang says flatly.

"This piece of garbage here is Morris Grant. He's one step below Cinder in the food chain."

"I know who he is, I read the papers. I thought the case against him was practically closed, why bother bringing him here?"

"He was going on a an extended vacation today. Sadly, he was attacked by the criminal element of this city and you found him in this alley, unconscious. You should probably take him somewhere where they can keep him safe."

"...this might be a bit too much."

"It's the closest we've ever gotten to her. She's getting desperate."

"Yes. She is. The most powerful woman in the city is pissed at you. Aren't you scared?"

"I'm more afraid of what will happen if I stop."

"If I bring him in...it's going to be messy. I'm pretty sure he plays golf with the commissioner."

"Fine. You're right, it's too dangerous. I'll find another way."

"No! No, that's not what I meant."

"What is it, then?"

"If I do this, I'm putting my life on the line. I'm risking everything. If things go well, the city ends up a better place. If they don't...well, let's just say our date at Beacon is looking like a happy ending now. Not to mention what could happen to _my sister_."

"So-"

"So. I need you to promise me, _promise me,_ Blizzard, that you'll get her. And that you're not going to do something very, very stupid."

"Like what?"

"Like dying. Or killing her."

"I don't kill."

"I know, but if things go wrong-"

"I. Don't. Kill."

"Good. Because I'd hate to have to put you in jail. You know what they do to pretty girls in there."

Blizzard takes a step, getting closer to her. The unconscious man that had been leaning against her falls to the ground and lies there.

"Are you worried about me, detective?"

"I'm worried about my sister. And my friends. And my own ass...and yes, I suppose I'm worried about you too. It'd be a shame if all you worked for went down the drain because of your obsession with Fall."

"I'm not obsessed." Blizzard says, glaring.

Yang arches her eyebrow as she looks at the whole of the masked woman.

"No, you're the living picture of sanity."

In an instant, Blizzard pushes her against the brick wall with more strength that Yang thought possible for that small body to have. Yang is caught between the masked woman and the hard place, lightly blushing as she feels the warm breath that comes with the words whispered in her ear.

"Shut up and listen, Xiao Long. I promise. I promise I will bring her down. I promise I will do it _the right way._ Because it's the only way it will work, yes, but also because it's the only way I do things. So don't worry. Go, do your job. Protect your sister. When we see each other again, Vale will be a new city."

As she feels the lips being pressed against her, Yang closes her eyes. It's nothing like their short, surprising first kiss, nor like the passionate, adrenaline filled kiss of the night at the awards ceremony. Blizzard seems almost careful, hesitant. Yang's hands, which at some point had decided to wrap themselves around Blizzard's hips, try to hold on as they feel the other woman pulling away.

A few seconds pass.

"Wow." Yang says. She opens her eyes and sees Blizzard smiling at her. It's the first time she's seen her smile, but she finds it a familiar, beautiful smile. "Oh. Um. That's embarrassing. I thought you'd take the chance to do one of your mysterious disappearances."

"Me too. I...I guess got a bit lost in the moment." The smile vanishes instantly, leaving Yang longing for more of it.

"Yeah, I can have that effect on people." She says, but the only answer is a deadpan expression.

"I should go. I'll see you after this is all over."

Blizzard turns around, her coat flowing gracefully as she does do, and she takes out a white grappling gun.

"You know, it doesn't have to be like this." Yang says quickly, trying to get the words to come out before it's too late. "You don't have to carry the world on your shoulders. You don't have to do it alone. Once things get better, you could stop. There's-"

"Stop." Blizzard interrupts her, sharply. "You think I haven't thought about it? If the day comes when Vale doesn't need Blizzard, then I'll hang my cowl. But until then, this is my mission."

"And if that day comes? Will you be able to see it? Will there ever be a day when you don't need Blizzard?"

"You don't know me." Blizzard says coldly.

"I think I do. And you know what else I think? I think you don't believe there will be such a thing as 'the day when Vale doesn't need Blizzard'! It's sad really. You're so full of yourself you think you can fix the world on your own, and you're so obsessed with the idea you won't stop until you die trying. It's selfish, really."

"Selfish." Blizzard turns around and pushes Yang against the wall again. If she was surprised by the strength the first time, this time she wasn't because she was too busy being in pain. "You think I'm selfish. After everything I've done for this city."

"Everything you've done, you've done for yourself." Yang says, struggling to free herself from Blizzards hold. "You know what the hardest part of my job is? Knowing that one day, my partner might have to go tell my sister that I'm not coming back. You? I've seen how you fight. At first I thought that you were insane, that you just didn't realize you were risking your life every second. But now I see it. You don't care. You don't care if you die, and you don't care about those you'd leave behind."

Blizzard's hands let go of her as the masked woman takes a few steps backs. Yang really needs to punch something, but she knows better than to throw a punch at the woman who knocked Pyrrha out in seconds. Without thinking, she turns around and punches the wall. It hurts, but she holds in the screams.

"Don't you have anyone waiting for you?" She asks, her voice barely holding, her eyes glassy with tears. "Parents? Siblings? Anything?"

The answer never comes. Yang turns around and finds that she's alone in an alley with an unconscious Scottish mobster.

* * *

 **A.N: The next chapter should be up soon. Then one more chapter after that and the first arc will be done! Sorry it took me so long to finish this one, btw. I just needed to write ahead a bit to make sure things made sense when I reached the final chapter. That and, you know, real life.**


	7. Under the Black Hat

As the sun rises, small rays of sunshine find their way into the dark, ancient room. On a huge wooden bed, Weiss Schnee fails to rest, haunted by nightmares.

A little girl and her parents.

A dark alley.

A man with a gun.

Pearls hitting the pavement.

A tall lamppost shining a lonely circle of light among a world of pure darkness.

Blood flowing.

Then there's a pounding sound. The frightened little girl looks around. Time and time again she has relived this moment, and she has never heard that sound.

The sound gets louder and louder. Feet. Feet running on wood, and the echoes of the manors empty hallways.

The trickling blood stops. The circle of light fades. Her world becomes darkness.

The footsteps get louder.

The dream shatters.

Weiss wakes up startled, her hands tightly grasping the soft bed sheets.

She finds narrowed lilac eyes examining her from the bedroom door.

"Yang. What are you doing here?"

"I am sorry miss, she slipped right past me" Glynda's voice comes from the hallway. She does not sound distressed.

"It's fine, Glynda. You can leave us."

As Glynda's quiet footsteps fade, Weiss gets up from bed. Yang's eyes follow her as she walks to the window and opens the curtains.

"I need a favor." Yang says behind her as she contemplates the manor's flowering gardens. Weiss takes a deep breath.

"If I can help, I will." She says turning to look at Yang. There's something in the lilac eyes. Something new. The look of someone weary but undefeated, and determined to remain so.

"I need you to go on a vacation for some time. And I need you to take Ruby with you."

Weiss turns away from her and looks out the window again, hiding her smile. An unexpected development, but a welcome one.

"May I ask why?"

"I just...need to know she'll be safe for a while."

"And you trust me to do that?"

"Yes. And...it won't hurt to know that you're safe as well."

Weiss hesitates as she looks into Yang's eyes. While usually a blunt person, the detective is not one to open up like that so easily. Her inquiring eyes, however, warn Weiss that there's more to the story than that. Yang is worried, yes, but that's not all of it. There's something else.

Yang is trusting her with Ruby. After everything they've been through, this is something that should be impossible. It's literally too good to be true.

That's when Weiss realizes her mistake from the last time they met was bigger than she realized. _She knows_. The thought arrives loudly in her head. She knows, or at the very least, she suspects.

"Tell Ruby to pack and come over. I'll figure something out." She says, knowing that if she refuses to go it will spark questions. Yang wants her to leave the city because she knows Blizzard can't.

The distant sound of an ancient vase breaking interrupts her train of thought.

"She's already here, actually" Yang says, cringing at the sound.

"Yes. I figured." Weiss says rolling her eyes. "Hopefully Glynda will prevent her from destroying anything else while I get changed."

Yang nods with a small smile.

"Thank you for doing this Weiss."

"Hey, what are friends for, right?"

"Right."

The two of them stand in silence for a while.

"So…" Weiss begins. "I don't suppose you can tell me why this is happening?"

"It's...complicated." Yang says, looking away. "Things are going to happen...good things, hopefully. But it may draw some unwanted attention."

"If that's the case, then why don't you come with us?" Weiss asks with what she hopes is a reassuring smile. The question makes Yang look at her again, surprised.

"I can't" She says automatically.

"So what, Ruby and I are supposed to be 'on vacation' while you're doing something that's going to 'draw some unwanted attention'?" Weiss says angrily. She knows she can't tell Yang yet, not until it's safe, she needs to convince her she's just Weiss. But the echoes of their last conversation hurt as she speaks the words.

Yang stands silently, examining her. For a second, Weiss is afraid she's about to drop the act and ask the question. Then Yang does the only thing worse than that.

She kisses her.

Somehow, it's different without the mask between them. Weiss' body freezes as her hands try to push Yang away, while her lips do the exact opposite. Eventually, however, the hands win.

"What" Weiss says, looking up to Yang's lilac eyes, which are entirely too close."was that?"

"I just needed to check something" Yang says taking a step back.

"And?" Weiss asks, raising her eyebrow and trying to give her best inquisitive look.

"Results were inconclusive." Yang says with a smirk. "I might have to try again some other time."

"Ha. Don't push your luck Xiao Long. And you still haven't answered my question."

"And I don't plan to. I'm off to work. Take care of my sister."

As Yang walks away, the tips of Weiss' fingers brush against her lips. She frowns as she looks at the other other woman.

"Yang?" She says right as Yang is about to close the door behind her.

"Yes Weiss?"

"Don't take this the wrong way but...what is this taste in my mouth?"

"Ah. That'd be the nicotine gum." Yang says with a shrug.

"Good for you."

"Yeah...I'm starting to think I might have picked the wrong week to quit smoking though."

The door closes. Yang's steps fade away. Weiss stands there, her hand still on her lips.

* * *

Bright white lights flood the cave as Ruby rushes down the stairs.

"Ruby! Mind your step!" Weiss shouts behind her.

"This is a terrible idea." Glynda states calmly by her side.

"I know. But she was running around the city in that stupid costume. She would have gotten herself killed."

"No comment." Glynda says with a smirk.

Weiss rolls her eyes and sighs as she reaches the bottom of the stairs.

"It's different. I have actual training."

The cave has changed since Glynda made it hers. With more than enough time and resources, the self appointed caretaker of Schnee Manor took the time to light up most of the main cavern. The huge space is still mostly empty, but there are more computers and forensic equipment.

While most of it is spread around a small area, the most impressive feature is the towering new computer, equipped with multiple huge screens, three different keyboards, and a joystick.

" _Another_ keyboard?" Weiss asks as she looks at it.

"I'll be the first to admit I'm new to this whole technology thing, miss, but it's not _my_ fault you demand I simultaneously check security feeds, run lab tests, and look into police files."

"I'm pretty sure most of that's illegal." Ruby's voice echoes through the cavern. From the sound of it, she's exploring one of the tunnels that connect it to the rest of the cave system.

"Ruby Rose! Come back here this instant! Those tunnels might not be structurally safe!"

"Aww, you're no fun!" Ruby's voice says, getting closer.

Weiss takes her hand to her face.

"It's not suppose to be fun" she mutters under her breath. "You see what I'm talking about? If she goes out there with that attitude, she's going to end up dead."

"So, what do you propose?"

"She needs discipline." Weiss says firmly as she looks at Glynda.

"Well yes, that's obvious, but what...oh. Oh no. I did _not_ sign up for this."

"Glynda…"

"I am _not_ a babysitter. I've had more than enough chasing miss Rose around for several lifetimes."

"She's...older now, I'm sure it won't be that bad."

"Why are we still having this conversation?"

Weiss opens her mouth to answer but is interrupted by the loud sound of Ruby landing on top of the huge computer.

"Wooo! This place is awesome! Did you know there's a tunnel back there" She says pointing to a dark corner "that leads to another tunnel up there? This is the best day of my life!"

"Feet off the computer now." Glynda says, glaring at the girl, who quickly jumps next to them and salutes.

"Yes ma'am!"

"I can tell you two are going to get along famously."

"W-what do you mean?" Ruby asks with a frown.

"Glynda here is going to be taking care of the first stage of your training."

"What?! I came here to train with Blizzard, not the-" Ruby stops mid-sentence as she looks into Glynda's narrowed eyes. "the…"

"Please" Glynda says calmly as two fingers press her glasses against the bridge of her nose. "Do finish your thought, miss Rose."

Ruby doesn't.

"Glynda is more than qualified to train you, trust me, she's seen some action."

As Glynda and Ruby silently glare at each other, Weiss' eyes explore the cave.

"There's something missing here" She says with a frown. "Where's-"

"It's through that tunnel" Glynda says without taking her eyes off Ruby as she points towards a nearby opening in the cave. "I was just about done with it when miss Xiao Long showed up at the gate."

"It's not done then?"

"It's missing the snowflake."

Weiss sighs.

"It will have to do."

Weiss disappears into the tunnel, and Ruby finally breaks eye contact with Glynda to watch her go.

"What's in there?"

"My workshop" Glynda mutters. "Now, about the training. I think we should begin by discussing your diet-"

"Glynda?" Weiss' voice comes from the huge computer, and a screen lights up to show her masked face "The back door is ready, right?"

"Yes. You should be able to see a red button there. It opens it remotely." Glynda says speaking into a small microphone.

"Good idea. Okay then, take care of Ruby." Weiss's words are drowned by the sound of a roaring engine echoing throughout the whole cave. "I'm taking her out for a spin."

Ruby covers her eyes as bright lights shine through the tunnel Weiss disappeared into. Then, just for a second, she manages to catch a glimpse of Blizzard on a pure white motorcycle disappearing into another tunnel.

"Woah." Ruby says, still looking at the now empty tunnel.

Glynda hums behind her.

"She should _not_ be driving it in here. The cave floor is not exactly smooth. Why, I should probably do something about that..."

Glynda looks at Ruby, and realizes she isn't really listening. The girl turns around to meet her gaze with wide, shining eyes.

"Does it come in red?"

* * *

The room is nothing like the lavish dining room where they last met. This is a dark, damp basement under a warehouse. Half of the lights don't work and the other half flicker. Once three of the most powerful people in Vale City, they now sit here, surrounded by their lieutenants, waiting. They are afraid.

"You think he'll come?" Schneider asks.

"He'll come. The money is too good." replies Neiman.

The door bursts open.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" A man says as he walks into the room. He's wearing a white tailcoat and a black hat over a ski mask. Most eyes, however, are on the bloodied crowbar he keeps tapping on his shoulder. "We meet at last."

"Mister...Black Hat" Cinder Fall says from the other side of the room. "Please, take a seat."

"It's Black Hat One." He says as more men in similar outfits walk in. "We're all Black Hat."

"I apologize."

"No need. So, why don't we get down to business, eh? You fellas sure look like you've seen better days."

"And you claim to have a magical solution to all of our problems" Neiman says.

"Oh, but I do!"

"Please, enlighten us." Says Cinder with a warm smile.

"It's simple: we kill the Blizzard!"

The comment was followed by a few seconds of silence, broken by Schneider's laughter.

"Well yes, that much is obvious" the fat man said. "That's not a plan! That's barely even an idea!"

"I don't _do_ plans, plans get you caught. You lot do nothing _but_ plan, and yet here we are,aren't we? No, I don't need a plan. What I need...is a bomb."


End file.
